Seems They're Looking for Excuses to Sell

The bad news is that the opening gap has been sold aggressively, and that Apple (AAPL) continues to trade poorly. The good news is that the dip-buyers jumped in and have the major indices well off the lows. Breadth has improved again, particularly on NYSE, and we have some positive action in chips, banks and steel. There is some hesitance among buyers to chase at this point, but the fear of being left out is keeping bids in place.

Although the overall action still looks OK, I've taken some stops in Thursday's session and pared back a number of things, as small-caps shares are undergoing some profit-taking. I have my eye on a couple of potential late buys, but I'm not feeling as confident about near-term follow-through.

There is still nothing wrong with this market, but the way stocks dipped this morning suggests many market players are looking for excuses to sell. They have good gains to protect, and while they don't want to be left out of upside once again, they also want to make sure they are quick to unload should cracks appear.

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